Washington D.C, also known as the District of Columbia is the capitol of the United States. It is home to the Lincoln memorial, the White house and many other buildings that serve as government operations and memorials. This place is also a home to the Alexander Calder mobile. The reason this place serves a good location for the mobile is based on size and location.
Washington D.C has been a prominent tourist attraction for many decades now. Therefore, it is always highly populated. The smithsonian museums are open free to the public which creates more interest because cost to be entertained in D.C is less. during a work week, over one millions people inhabit the capitol, while only 500,000 citizens actually live full time in the area. The mobile is located in the national art gallery, which is one of most popular attractions for people to visit. it was most likely placed in this building for one of the purposes of being seen by many people daily.
Another reason the Calder Mobile is located within Washington D.C is because it is a large piece. Scale seems to be an important factor in placing items and building architecture for the D.C area. the lincoln memorial is one example because even president Lincoln himself is at a much larger scale than the size he actually was. also, the washington memorial stands above the city with a large pond landscape spanning below it. this size was done on purpose to show the power and wealth that the United States consists of.
info found at www.washington.org
similar place-The Hollis Ashtray in Chicago also uses scale and power as a place for an artifact. the population of Chicago is much larger than Washington D.C, but still places and emphasis on tourist attractions as well as larger buildings that can "defeat the odds."
different place- The shoreline of North Carolina is a place that would not fit the Alexander Calder Mobile. The location is small and the "cozy" design style seems to be more classic and wouldn't match the contemporary style created in the Mobile.
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